


Cliché

by shnuffeluv



Category: NCIS
Genre: Boys Kissing, Eventual Romance, Falling In Love, Injured Timothy McGee, M/M, Non-Canon Relationship, POV Timothy McGee, Season/Series 14 Spoilers, Season/Series 15 Spoilers, Slash, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 05:06:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18887758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/shnuffeluv
Summary: He knew that he was being cliché, but Tim couldn't help himself. He fell in love with Nick slowly, and then all at once.





	Cliché

He hated how cliché it was, but it was true. When he fell in love, he fell slowly, and then all at once. He started noticing the little things more, like how rare his smile was, or how he never ran his hands through his hair lest he muss it up. The shirts he wore still looked funny, but in the sense that he didn’t need them to look good; like he was trying too hard. Same with his jeans, although those were never as tight as his shirts.

Tim knew he wasn’t sly. He had gotten better at being discreet over the years but he still couldn’t hide his blush all the way, he would still get caught staring a second too long. And he knew that one day, it was going to get him in trouble. He didn’t know when, and he didn’t know where, but he knew it would happen.

The mysterious stranger who had showed up on their doorstep one day claiming to be one of the good guys had thrown Tim for a loop from the beginning. When it became increasingly clear that Special Agent Nick Torres was going to stay, Tim tried to keep calm, to still his racing heart, to keep his mind out of the gutter. Knowing he was bisexual had never been quite such an inconvenience before.

Tim was convinced it was merely infatuation, that it would eventually go away. But it never did. He just continued to struggle, to resist the temptation of this crush. He wanted to run his hands down Nick’s back as he kissed him, hard and fast and desperate, and it was taking all his attention.

Rule Twelve was in play. Rule Twelve was always in play. Tim knew that Nick was off limits. He knew that if he did anything, Gibbs would probably kill him. And he must have been losing his mind quicker than he thought, because that was almost part of the appeal. Having to steal glances when Gibbs wasn’t around, and Nick wasn’t looking over at him; Tim enjoyed the challenge.

It wasn’t like nobody in the office knew. It seemed like everyone but Nick knew about Tim’s affections. Bishop would scoff at him and tell him to get over himself and ask Nick out already. Abby would constantly ask for updates, or the latest things that Tim had noticed about his new crush. Ducky and Jimmy would share knowing smiles whenever Tim came down, and it nearly drove him crazy to know about it.

And then, one day, he had realized he had fallen. He was taking a glance at Nick, which was nothing new, but the swell in his heart and the brief flicker of a smile he couldn’t prevent on his face was different. He had pretended to laugh at something on his phone before making his excuses and leaving the room. What was going on?! He was convinced this was just a crush! But he knew. He knew deep in his gut that he had stopped trying to resist the temptation a long time ago. And this was the result. He was as hopeless as a lovesick puppy, and no one would be able to help him now.

When he realized what had happened, he stopped trying to be discreet, at least when Gibbs was around. Of course, Gibbs had probably figured out this was what was going on from day one. Alex was laughing every time Tim made an offhand comment about his love life, which Nick would ruthlessly interrogate him about.

Of course, everything had to go screwy and sideways as soon as Tim was finding his equilibrium with this new love. Gibbs was defending them in Paraguay, and Tim knew he would die if left alone out there. Tim turned to Nick and said, “Make sure everyone gets out safe.” And with a deep, desperate kiss, he leapt out of the helicopter to help Gibbs.

He could hear Nick shouting after him, but neither of them could change this now. Gibbs shot him a glance, full of anger and exasperation, and Tim met his eyes defiantly. Tim wouldn’t let Gibbs go out in a blaze of glory just yet, not if he had anything to say about it.

When they were held captive for a month, the one thing that got Tim through was the thought of seeing Nick again. Even if it was a long shot, even if he knew it would probably never happen in this life. The thought of that final kiss, of Nick’s surprised face when Tim pulled away, was all he could focus on at night to get him to fall asleep on the metal floor of the ship. If he didn’t think about that, all he could focus on was Gibbs getting tortured, about having to watch his boss and father figure almost die day after day.

If he ever got close to losing hope, Gibbs would ask him a question or two about Nick. Stuff Tim knew Gibbs had seen about Nick before, but that would get Tim rambling anyway. Whenever he finished his mini-tirades, Gibbs would say, “Hold onto that hope, Tim. That’s how we get out of here.”

Tim would nod and they would lapse into silence for a while. Lather, rinse, repeat, for four weeks. It felt like an eternity to Tim, and he knew Gibbs felt it too. He could see it in the man’s eyes.

And then. And then. They got off the ship. They were being flown back to American soil. Tim couldn’t sleep; his leg was bouncing like a jackrabbit and his eyes were glancing at every shadow in the plane. Gibbs wasn’t much better, but his nervousness was shown in how still he was, a living statue.

When they got to the airport, Bishop, Torres, Abby, the whole team was waiting for them. Nick strode up to Tim, grabbed him roughly by the shirt, and yanked him down into a kiss. Tim’s eyes closed and he willed himself to believe that this was real, that he was kissing Nick and that he wasn’t on the ship anymore, victim of some crazy fever dream.

They parted, and Nick punched him solidly in the chest. “Don’t you  _ ever _ do that again,” he ordered.

Tim felt a laugh bubble up in his chest. He promised he wouldn’t. They both knew he would do it again in an instant.

Their relationship going forward was rocky. Tim wasn’t cleared for work yet, and Nick was always angry about what he had done. Every time Nick tried to kiss Tim after they initially reunited, Tim would shy away. He knew Nick wouldn’t hurt him, but he was scared of what  _ he _ might do to  _ Nick _ left to his own devices.

When he finally got to the psych eval, he told Doctor Confalone everything that had been going through his head. He didn’t intend to. He had talked about how Nick had been patient with him, and how Gibbs and Tim were getting along, and how Bishop had been so happy to see them back. And when she had asked him how that had affected him, something in him broke. He admitted he was worried about hurting Nick, hurting everyone. He felt like a ticking time bomb, and that there were monsters in every shadow, and that his luck was going to run out.

She had listened patiently through his whole rant, had told him they would be able to work on everything next week, and when he had left and Gibbs had smiled at him, completely genuinely, for the first time since they had gotten back, he knew he had done something right.

Slowly, Tim was getting better. He no longer flinched at his own shadow. He went out for a beer or two with his friends. Nick and him were getting back on more even footing. Everything seemed to be working out, and Tim was waiting less for that curveball to come and knock him out.

And when Nick finally asked him if he was ready to date, Tim said yes and they agreed on a place and time. They went on the date. They hit it off better than either of them could have hoped for. They went back to Tim’s for the night. Though they didn’t do anything, they fell asleep in each other’s arms. When Tim woke up the next morning it was the most refreshed he had felt in weeks.

It may have been cliché, but Tim was forever grateful that Nick was in his life, because he honestly believed Nick had saved it. And it may have been sappy, and over the top, but Tim knew that one day, if he were to settle down, it would have to be with Nick. There was no other man he could love more, and he doubted any woman could come close either. Nick had saved his life. And Tim was never so glad he had fallen slowly, and then all at once.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments welcomed and encouraged! <3


End file.
